At 3.9% Insurance Penetration in India is Below World’s Average

The penetration of insurance in India is only at 3.9 percent, which is below the world’s average of 6.9% in 2013; as indicated by the minister Jayant Sinha in the parliament.

This rate of penetration is not sufficient as compared to the world’s index. The depth of insurance penetration is dependent on several factors like economic development, savings, and size of the insurance sector. The ratio of insurance penetration measured as a ratio of premium to gross domestic product (GDP) is about only 3.1 percent of the life insurance for the general insurance in 2013.

The health insurance is among other insurance types in the general insurance category. India is better than China and Russia in insurance penetration as per the BRICS report, but well below South Africa and little behind Brazil. South Africa with its insurance penetration stands at the top with 15.4 percent in 2013 where China with 3 percent, and Brazil with 4 percent above the Indian average and Russia with only 1.3 percent.

The statistics in the G20 countries indicate that South Africa holds the top position in insurance infiltration, followed by South Korea at 11.9 percent. Other nations following the leaders include U.K. at 11.5%, Japan at 11.1 percent, France at 9%, Italy at 7.6%, U.S.A. stands at 7.5 percent, Canada at 6.9 percent, Germany at 6.7% , and Australia at 5.2 percent.

There are countries falling behind India such as Argentina with 3.6 percent, Mexico with 2.1% and Indonesia with 2.1%, Turkey with 1.5%, and finally Russia at 1.3%.

(Source: This article has been adapted from the article "Insurance penetration in India at 3.9 percent, below world average" that appeared on Mar 10, 2015 in timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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